Sunday, Bloody Sunday

I did my weekly segment on the George Rogers Show this morning. It is posted on his web site now, and you can either download it free directly from the site (http://www.georgerogersradio.com/) or download from the site in the form of a podcast (I made itunes!!). I think my segment started at about the quarter mark today and I was on for over 20 minutes. Enjoy….

I know, I know. You have been waiting for my rant on the Eagles collapse since about 5:00 et on Sunday. You probably checked the blog every hour to see the irate tirade on the Birds. Ok, maybe that was only Stitzer, but I am sure you are excited to see it now. And I will get to it, but first, there are a few other items that I need to address.

Let’s start with baseball. I admit it, I have fallen for the Phillies. Hook, line, and Cole Hamels change up. Since they traded away Abreu, Lidle (may he tear his rotator cuff and never pitch again, or get hit by a bus, whichever comes first), and many others, this team is playing with so much heart. They keep fighting to win and stay in the race, their starting pitching is throwing great, and Ryan Howard is just a pleasure to follow. Most importantly, the team is playing with a big heart. Which it has lacked since about 1993. Coincidence that the last time they had it they went to the World Series with a bunch of renegade overachievers? I think not. Coincidence that the heart shows up after their long-time supposed leader, Bobby “I need a heart worse than the Tin Man” Abreu left town? I think not. (Relax, Yankee fans, I am not saying he is not a great player; just saying he does not bust it 110% every time out and is not equipped to be a team leader…i.e., he is no Chase Utley; he is perfect for the Yankees where he can blend in and have superstars all around him). This team just has a feel about it that says they will find a way in the playoffs by the last day….

And then last night happened. Talk about Philly karma. The Phils had their veteran leader pitcher who has pitched flawlessly for 6 weeks get blistered by the Cubs, the worst team in the NL with a Triple-A lineup. Then, to compound matters, the Padres choked and blew a four run 9th inning lead against the Dodgers by giving up back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs (marking the 4th time in major league history that has happened), so the Phillies now find themselves two back in the loss column with 12 to play. They need to catch fire the last two weeks. With this team’s talent and make up, they just might. But then again, as always with this team, they will probably come up just short. The good news is that with a good offseason, it may be the last time they come up just short of the playoffs for a while….

While we are on baseball, Alfonso Soriano became the 4th player to go 40/40, and may become the first to go 45/45. I say WHO CARES? His stats are empty, he is doing it for a bad team, and it is evident he is trying to pad his stats with bad fundamental plays (stealing third with two outs, etc.) that must be raising Frank Robinson’s blood pressure.

Now, to football. It was indeed a great college football Saturday. As my preseason article (see 8/18 entry) on Notre Dame can attest, I was not surprised that Notre Dame lost to Michigan. What was surprising was the shellacking they took at the hands of the Wolverines. I just think Notre Dame was overrated coming into this season. And that was Charlie Weis’ fault for overachieving with this team last year. The brilliance of Weis’ coaching is showing through with the poor performance of Brady Quinn so far this year. Weis was able to bring in great schemes last year and helped Quinn look better than he probably is. Now that teams are adjusting with a year’s worth of film to study, Quinn has come back to Earth. You will probably not hear any more Heisman or #1 overall NFL draft pick for Brady any more. That doers not change the fact that Weis is taking this program in the right direction, and will challenge for a National title at some point in the next 3-4 years, once all of his own players are in place. We are still returning to the glory days of Irish football, just a little more deliberately than some were hoping.

As long as we are on college football (and this applies equally to the NFL), I am so sick and tired of referees single handedly deciding the outcomes of games. The Oregon/Oklahoma game was about the worst violation of proper officiating since Mike Roth officiated Stitzer’s wedding ceremony! The LSU/Auburn game was not far behind. If you saw these games, you know what I am talking about. If you didn’t, suffice it to say that LSU was robbed, and Oklahoma was robbed and violated. It is a disgrace. There is too much on the line to determine games through incompetent refs. The NFL, as I have said for years, should hire full-time officials, not these lawyers and bankers who look at officiating as a part-time hobby.

I could give you my other observations about the NFL, but my heart is just not into it this week. So let’s focus on what was the debacle at the Linc on Sunday. The day started as an absolute perfect day. It was sunny, 80 degrees, and we had a strong tailgate to grease the wheels so to speak. Then the game started….and it got even better. The Birds looked invincible (they even introduced Vince Papale before the game). The offense was clicking beautifully, McNabb looked all-world for the second straight week (further justifying my second round selection of him in my fantasy league), the running game was working when called upon, the defense sacked Eli 8 times and in general battered him pretty good, and best of all, the Birds were going to bury the Giants two games behind them. At 24-7 heading into the 4th quarter, this game was over….

And then it started to change. Slowly. First, the Giants scored on a fumble recovery (of their own fumble) in the end zone, a play in which Michael Lewis of the Eagles had to just fall on the ball to end the game, but it squirted out from him and into Carter’s hands for a TD. Then the Birds went for it on the Giants 38 instead of punting them deep with under 9 minutes to go. No gain, turnover on downs. Then I started getting nauseous. Then after stopping the Giants, Brian Westbrook fumbled, and I threw up in my mouth. 3 plays later, 24-21. After holding the Birds to one first down, the Giants got the ball at their own 20 with 0:58 seconds left. You know the rest.

To make matters worse, the Eagles lost their best defensive lineman, Jevon Kearse, in overtime. So not only did their brain fart cost them the game and the lead in the division, but it also cost them a key component of their team for the rest of the year. Still hurts on Tuesday. This one will be tough to bounce back on, no question. Fortunately, they have enough veteran leaders and coaches that they should be all right from a mental standpoint…

The good news is that they dominated the New York Giants in every facet of the game for 45 minutes, and I still think these are the best two teams in the NFC. It is not that they can’t execute to demolish a great team, it is just that they stopped executing. There is a big difference. They now play at San Fran, home Green Bay before the vagabond T.O. and his cowpokes come to town. They will be favored in each of their next 8 games. Not saying they will win them all, but they should win at least 6 of them, and then at 7-3, the Giant game becomes more of a motivation than a problem. Now if they lose to the improved 49ers this week, then all bets are off.

I still predict a very strong season from the Birds this year. But this still hurts. A lot.